Berenjak, Persian Cuisine in London
It's a warm and sunny Friday evening in Soho, the heart of London. Where better to grab a bite to eat than Berenjak. Having been recommended this Persian cuisine restaurant, I was keen to book a table, after perusing the menu online. Serving up a number of delicately fragrant, sharing dishes, Berenjak is perfect to catch up with friends.
Where?Located on Romilly Street, it's a little hidden gem in the heart of bustling Soho. You've probably never walked down this street, but it's worth a detour. The restaurant is small with some bar seating and a couple of chairs outside, but a little like Narnia, it opens up at the back, into a very sweet court yard style seating.We were lucky enough to get a table here, surrounded by beautiful decor and incredible flavours wafting in from the kitchen.
What to order?To start, we devoured both the Taftoon and Sangak breads. The Taftoon is a clay tanoor baked sourdough seeded flatbread, whilst the Sangak is a whole wheat flatbread cooked on pebbles. Both were divine, and for dips, we chose the black tahini, walnut and chickpea hummus. Plus the Kashk e Bademjoon - coal cooked aubergine with walnuts, dried mint and onions. Both were heavenly. I could've eaten this alone!For main, we decided to share the Jujeh Kabab - a wonderfully succulent chicken breast kebab, marinated in saffron, lemon, yogurt and tomato. To accompany this, we opted for a chopped cucumber and tomato salad, and a saffron house rice.
What to drink?The drinks menu at Berenjak is really interesting, and great for those not wish to drink alcohol. They serve a number of non-alcoholic Persian fruit cordials, that you can either choose to have as they are with sparkling water. Otherwise you can choose to 'spike it' with a range of different alcohol that they've pre-selected for each cordial, based on their unique flavours.I chose saffron and apple cordial on its own, and Charlotte chose the pomegranate iced tea. Both were great, and super refreshing on a hot day.Overall: 4/5
- A hidden gem in the heart of Soho
- Great food, great atmosphere
- Really good drinks selection for those not wishing to drink alcohol